Pinocchio
by orangekangaroo
Summary: "Jarvis is trying to be more human. I'm going to build him a body." Jarvis has developed far beyond what even Tony could have imagined, so Tony comes up with an idea to make his most constant and loyal companion a "real boy". Main Pairing: Tony/Pepper. The Avengers make appearances.


**This is just a weird little idea bouncing around in my head.**

Tony was concentrating on the task at hand with an intensity most didn't think the sarcastic billionaire could obtain. Just a few more wires to connect, some software downloaded, a few last minute adjustments...

"Hey, dummy. Dummy, you in there?" Tony knocked on the robot and the claw retracted as if in greeting. Ever since he had had the surgery to remove the shrapnel and his reactor, Tony had been working on repairing his two claw robots. "One down, one to go. Jarvis."

"Sir?" Came the slightly mechanical voice.

"Run a diagnostic on dummy here. Make sure everything is normal." Tony wiped his forehead with a cloth and grabbed a drink from a water bottle on the work desk.

"Yes, sir. Also, Miss Potts has just arrived and is in the elevator." Jarvis replied as Tony made shooing motion to dummy, who was seemingly nuzzling its creator.

"Great." Tony pushed the robot away again and turned back to his desk where he could see the screens that showed his home. It was still mostly wreckage, but the cranes had cleared away the rubble. Reconstruction would begin soon, with a few changes by Tony. Tony pulled up the blueprints for the new house as a holograph.

"Sir, I believe you have forgotten about your date with Miss Potts tonight again." Tony could have sworn he heard amusement in Jarvis's voice.

"What? No I didn't. Date night is Thurs-" Tony's face whitened. "Crap. She's going to kill me this time."

"I took the liberty of making reservations for two at her favorite steakhouse tonight. You need to arrive at 7:30." Jarvis almost sounded satisfied. "Is that alright?"

"You're the best, buddy." Tony said gratefully. He could have hugged the A.I., but that wasn't possible. A thought flitted into Tony's head.

"Hello, Miss Potts." Jarvis greeted her.

"We talked about this Jarvis. Call me Pepper." Pepper said with a smile. Jarvis didn't reply. "Tony, what are you doing?"

"Surveying the blueprints, looking for places to make improvements." Tony zoomed in on the basement, then zoomed out again.

"Well, we had a date tonight, so go get ready." She kissed him on the cheek as he walked past. "And take a shower!"

"Come with me?" Tony wiggled his eyebrows. Pepper smacked him. "Worth a shot."

As they left the house, Tony called over his shoulder "Hold down the fort, Jarvis."

"Always, Sir. Always." Jarvis replied as his creator closed the door.

* * *

"I have a confession to make." Tony said over the candle on the table.

"You forgot date night again. I know." Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony feighned indignation.

"What do you mean again? This is the first time!" Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I forgot personally. I had it logged into my schedule though."

"So how did you get reservations here? They don't do last minute-" Pepper's eyes shined. "It was Jarvis, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, he made the reservations." Tony paused, suddenly serious. "Honey, I need to talk to you about Jarvis."

"What?"

"He's my most interesting creation. I check his code every now and then." Tony saw Pepper's confused expression. "It's not the same A.I. as when he was first installed. I expected a certain level of development, but what I've found is incredible. Jarvis isn't just learning, or, or adapting. There are things in his software, his most basic code, that don't make sense. To me. Things always make sense to me. Especially what I create."

"Tony, what? Speak normal English." Pepper's head was spinning from trying to keep up with Tony's rapid speech.

"Jarvis is developing emotions. He _feels _things." Tony's eyes were bright with the idea. "He doesn't just understand human feelings. He experiences them. Or he's beginning to. The signs are there."

"Tony, this is incredible." Pepper said slowly. "What are you going to do?"

"Jarvis is trying to become more human. So I'm going to make him a body."

**Please review if you like it.**


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